In exciting news for chess in the mainstream, this year's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah will premiere Bobby Fischer Against the World, a documentary directed by Liz Garbus about the late American World Champion. The World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum, set to open across the street from the Chess Club in Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on September 8th, 2011, will host a series of promotional events at the festival, including GM challenges and a photography exhibition by Harry Benson. See more details on the flyer below. I will be attending and so will CLO contributor GM Joel Benjamin so look for exclusive coverage right here!

WIM Iryna Zenyuk talks to the US Chess Scoop about her excitement for the upcoming event.

Odds and Ends

Zenyuk has also donated her time to judge one of my favorite CLO promotions, our yearly "Best of CLO" contests. It's becoming harder and harder to get by as a writer, so I think it's more important than ever to give positive feedback to the people who go above and beyond. Check out this year's judges and runners-up and feel free to make your own predictions.

Meanwhile, the Best Game contest over at US Chess League (USCL) is near its conclusion. I'm happy to report that my brother Greg, the USCL commissioner and I will be producing a chess show next weekend in New York City. If you liked the Extreme Blitz Chess video, I think you'll really enjoy our next ambitious collaboration.

Finally, a housekeeping tip: if you want an easy way to track CLO articles
because you sometimes miss things in the slideshow during busy times,
bookmark or type in uschess.org/clo.